The European Commission is set to authorize the growing of genetically modified maize on European soil, despite 19 member states voting against the move, highlighting the “absurd” rules of weighted votes in the EU. In a debate on Tuesday, 19 EU member states indicated that they would vote against the authorization of genetically modified maize because of health and environmental concerns and opposition... 

Would you like to have an RFID microchip implanted under your skin? If you are anything like me, you would never allow such a thing to be done. But many others, especially among the younger generations, see things very differently. RFID microchip implants and other forms of “wearable technology” are increasingly being viewed as “cool”, “trendy” and “cutting edge” by young people that... 

The UK coalition government is facing mounting criticism for failing to do enough to prevent flooding, which has crippled parts of the country since almost two months ago. The government’s response to the crisis was described as “very disorganized” by angry residents of English Thameside village of Datchet in Berkshire, who woke on Tuesday morning to witness their houses surrounded by water. As... 

A senior political analyst has suggested British Prime Minister David Cameron should resign if he really plans to retain Scotland in the UK. In an interview with Press TV on Saturday, Ian Williams, Foreign Policy in Focus, London said Cameron’s resignation “would do wonders to get pro-union sentiment in the north.” “The best thing he could do would be to resign and call another election and... 

First light: The young star cluster NGC1818 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, taken as part of calibration and testing before the science phase of the Gaia telescope mission begins. Europe’s billion-star surveyor Gaia is slowly being brought into focus as it begins its mission to create the most accurate map of the Milky Way begins. Launched in December, the satellite has now reached its destination... 

The escalation of the economic crisis in Argentina has forced the government to take drastic actions that had been rejected in the past, due to the impact they could have on the people. This time the Central Bank raised the interest rates by 3%. While the Argentine economy faces a complicated and serious agenda to solve, The problem is intensified by destabilizing moves of foreign firms, such as the... 

On Saturday 20 July 2013, in the basement of the Guardian’s office in Kings Cross, London, watched by two GCHQ technicians, Guardian editors destroyed hard drives and memory cards on which encrypted files leaked by Edward Snowden had been stored. This is the first time footage of the event has been released.  Read More »

Britain’s Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site has told non-essential workers to stay home Friday due to the detection of abnormally high levels of radiation. The radiation spike was detected by one of the monitors at the north end of the partially decommissioned site. “Levels of radioactivity detected are above naturally occurring radiation but well below that which would call for any actions... 

Countries spying on their allies sow distrust that could result in less, rather than more security, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned. She particularly referred to the surveillance and spying activities by the US and the UK. “But does that make it right for our closest allies, like the United States or Britain, to access all imaginable data – arguing that it helps their own security... 

Fears of bank runs have escalated with the news that Russian lender ‘My Bank’ has banned all cash withdrawals until next week. “Bloomberg reports that ‘My Bank’ – one of Russia’s top 200 lenders by assets – has introduced a complete ban on cash withdrawals until next week. While the Ruble has been losing ground rapidly recently, we suspect few have been expecting bank runs in Russia.... 

Famous American whistleblower Edward Snowden faces assassination attempts by the British foreign intelligence service, MI6, a former security officer tells Press TV. Wayne Madsen, a former National Security Agency (NSA) officer, said the threat has increased after the failed attempts to kidnap Snowden, who gained fame due to his revelations about NSA spying activities. “In early December 2013, I... 

Dictyostelium Fruiting Bodies Scientists have discovered a way to study the causes of Alzheimer disease using a simple single-celled amoeba, which leads to a better understanding of how human proteins mutate. It circumvents the need for animal testing. British scientists point to the possibility of amoeba use in biomedical studies of the presenilin protein that plays a part in causing Alzheimer disease,... 

Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage The leader of Britain’s Eurosceptic right-wing political party, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), says the UK government should lift a ban on handguns that has been in place for almost two decades, calling the current ban on handguns “ludicrous.” “I think proper gun licensing is something we’ve done in this country responsibly and... 

It has long been believed that birds fly in a V formation, swapping over the leadership when the leader gets tired due to resistance, so as to gain lift from the aerodynamic motion of the wings of the bird in front. The theory has now been proved in a study published by Nature magazine The article “Bird flight: Fly with a little flap from your friends” written by Florian T. Mujires and... 

A new ice age could be on its way to Europe and some other parts of the Earth following an alarming fall occurred in the performance power of the Sun, scientists have warned. While the number of gas explosions on the Sun’s surface should be at the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity, but the recent research has indicated an unexpected drop off, researchers say. The occurred phenomenon has...